LET THE GAMES BEGIN  

David, an astute reader of this site sent me a note asking if I was planning anything special to honor the Olympics.  He advised that the term “ gymnasia” literally means “naked sport”.  The athletes in the  original Olympic games were naked.  Born too late? No.  As it happens, I’ve been working on a new feature for ON THE COUCH – PAUL AND RICK -  a multipart story featuring two exceptionally well muscled men scheduled to go up in late September.  Part of what we shot was a high spirited wrestling match atop my dining room table.  So in the spirit of the original Olympics — naked sport – a preview.  

FIRE ISLAND PINES –
The show goes on the road.  AUGUST 14 TO 25

Aaron Young and I are going to be at Fire Island Pines from the 14th of August to the 25th.  We’re going to be working on a new book and documentary film  – a memoir of the Pines – and our joint book – a diary of our often amorous adventures that has been running here at the site under the title DEFYING GRAVITY.  If you see us out and about – please say hi. When we are not working – we’ll just be having fun on the beach.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tom Bianchi Photography
Released in Limited Edition 2009 Calendar

PROVOCATEUR to Publish
Classic Nude Work From the Iconic Gay Photographer

Los Angeles, California — February 18, 2008 — PROVOCATEUR, a division of Village Lighthouse, Inc., is honored to announce its upcoming publication of a limited edition 2009 wall calendar with imagery from legendary photographer Tom Bianchi called PROVOCATEUR: Out of the Studio. Out of the Studio features an impressive selection of classic Bianchi photography from his best-selling books and calendars. Bianchi was one of the first photographers to show the world an inmate portrait of male beauty and gay culture. 

“I’ve never actually counted how many photographs I’ve taken over the last four decades,” Bianchi said, “but with 18 books published to date and each book being but the tiniest fraction of what was shot, I know there are many more pages to cover with images I’m still discovering. I’m glad to work with Village Lighthouse now and bring more of these images to light.”

With the publication of his book of the same name Out of the Studio in 1990, Bianchi became one of the first photographers with a focus on homoerotic imagery to have a multi-book contract with a major publisher and set the new standard of nude male photography. Since his first release, his portfolio includes 18 books of photography, erotic behind-the-scenes films entitled The Pool and On the Couch I & II, a philosophic essay In the Defense of Beauty and an autobiographical collection of poetry Men I’ve Loved. The Bianchi wall calendar becomes part of the PROVOCATEUR line that since its 2005 premier has become best selling for Village Lighthouse and has garnered multiple awards from the Calendar Awards Program held by the Calendar Marketing Association.

At 62, Tom Bianchi is a living legend of the GLBT community for his large body of artistic work, his support of events like the Gay Games, and in particular for his intensive fundraising for AIDS therapies. Bianchi currently stays busy in Palm Springs, gets by with little clothing in the desert heat, and focuses his energy on fundraising and developing his website, TomBianchi.com. Bianchi describes his site as “a photo journal of that ongoing quest with many men worthy of our attention on many levels.” 

Bianchi’s photography career began in the mid 1970s with photos of life at Fire Island Pines. These photos from over 30 years ago are now being assembled into a new book and will premier at a show at Exposure Gallery in Palm Springs in April. A film documentary about those early years in the development of the gay community is also being created featuring Bianchi and his photography.

In 1980, Bianchi retired from his job as a lawyer and moved to Los Angeles with his lover, David, to paint and sculpt. He created large three-dimensional paintings for companies including IBM, Bank of America and Saks Fifth Avenue and had many shows of that work in museums and galleries around the country. In 1988, when Bianchi’s partner David died of AIDS, Bianchi began a book of photos called Out of the Studio that was meant as a celebration of gay men and a memorial to David. At this point, Bianchi became known as a photographer.

BIG Daddy, another division of Village Lighthouse, Inc., will also publish a 2009 calendar entitled Bianchi Men including contemporary erotic male nudes created by Bianchi. Bianchi Men becomes part of the BIG Daddy line that focuses on sexy edgy photography. With two Bianchi releases for 2009, Village Lighthouse showcases Bianchi’s artistic range from single sexy nudes to his influential depictions of male companionship and comradery. 

The suggested retail price of PROVOCATEUR: Out of the Studio and Bianchi Men is $15.95 each. Both 2009 calendars featuring Bianchi’ photography will be released in May 2008. The entire PROVOCATEUR and BIG Daddy calendar lines are available for prebooking online at 10percent.com and Amazon.com. PROVOCATEUR and BIG Daddy titles will also be available at local community retailers upon release. More information about Tom Bianchi can be found online at TomBianchi.com.

ABOUT PROVOCATEUR

The renowned PROVOCATEUR brand is recognized for "Celebrating the Art and Culture of Men and Women." It achieves this by offering a stunning collection of calendars that feature sensual, fine art photography and illustration. Over the years, it has showcased the works of both upcoming talent and famous artists such as best-selling author and film director Clive Barker. The PROVOCATEUR calendar line has garnered multiple awards for its superior content and design.

ABOUT BIG DADDY           
BIG DADDY was launched early in 2006 to offer a more edgy and humorous selection of greeting cards and magnets. It features in-your-face, outrageous humor and incredibly sexy photography and illustration. The BIG DADDY brand has rapidly grown. Its most exciting achievement recently was the partnership it formed with Playgirl Magazine to publish and distribute products featuring its incredibly stunning and sexy photography. In 2007, BIG DADDY began publishing its own line of wall calendars. With an exclusive selection of products featuring the photography of Playgirl, Falcon Studios, Rascal Video, Fratmen.com, BangBangBoys.com and Raging Stallion Studios, BIG DADDY has the sexiest, most edgy greeting cards, magnets and calendars in the gay and mainstream bachelorette niche markets. Its cross-market appeal gives it huge potential for brand recognition and product placement.

ABOUT VILLAGE LIGHTHOUSE

Village Lighthouse, Inc. is a leading manufacturer, distributor and retailer of gay and lesbian oriented merchandise. Its wholesale divisions, including PROVOCATEUR, BIG Daddy, 10% and Alluvial Filmworks, distribute greeting cards, calendars, posters, postcards, movies, magnets, cologne, male pheromones and other paper products internationally to over 500 accounts. Village Lighthouse’s retail divisions include 10percent.com, the leading online shopping destination for the gay community, and OutGreetings (outgreetings.com), an e-card and event planning service that caters to the gay and lesbian community. For more information about Village Lighthouse and its divisions, visit its corporate website at VillageLighthouse.com.

###

Contact:

Julian P. Hobson

Director of Business Affairs and Film Acquisitions

323-460-4661 (x125)

jhobson@villagelighthouse.com

PROVOCATEUR and BIG Daddy, divisions of Village Lighthouse, Inc.
6165 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90038, United States of America

DEEP SEX – the book is available now.  
If you’d like a signed copy, let me know at the Contact Us page.
Send an Email to info@tombianchi.com with your address,
let me know how you’d like your book inscribed.   
We will let you know where to send a check to get
your book sent out the next day.
The signed book is $50  – second day air in the US is  included in that price.   
DEEP SEX is 126 pages of full color full tilt sexual energetic beauty.
My publishers, Bruno Gmuender, told me that I could go “all the way” with this one. SO I DID :-)  
The first reviews are in  - and they say –
“THE BEST - HOT HOT HOT – THRILLING -  GORGEOUS -  ELEGANT – BRAVO.

Buy Tom's Books & Calendars at Amazon.com

HIT  THE “LINK” LISTED ABOVE TO FIND TOM’S EARLIER BOOKS AT AMAZON.COM  
---   PLUS  --  TOM HAS A LIMITED NUMBER OF  COPIES OF BOB AND ROD, IN THE STUDIO, AND OUTPOST IF YOU WANT SIGNED FIRST EDITION COPIES FROM HIM DIRECTLY.  
LET HIM KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AND HE WILL GET TO YOU HIMSELF.

DOWNLOAD GALLERY

Many of you have asked for the ability to download your favorite images. We hear you - we are making that possible now. In the past we were reluctant to do this because of unscrupulous people who pirate images and misuse them. We don't want our friends abused by someone who would steal their image for a commercial use. We are going to watch out for this, but trust our member's good will. We are starting with a group of images we think make a great presentation. I will provide what I think are my strongest pictures. But we want to hear from you to find out what you want. So, you are invited to make special requests. This is a member's privilege available soon. We will format special images for you to use as screen savers or your own personal scrapbook. Your requests can be sent to: info@tombianchi.com

WANT TO BE IN PICTURES?

Would you like to see yourself in these pages? Check out my advice for men who would like to participate as subjects of these photo essays. Many of the men I've shot I met first on the internet, usually when they wrote to ask if I was looking for models. This page will answer questions as to how to go about getting here.  Just click the button marked Models on the Main Menu Page.

DEEP SEX Launch -- August 1

We are throwing open the doors to our home and to our private life for you in this new series. Casa Erotica is a name we gave our new home in Palm Springs when we hanged it with the most erotic art I've made over the years and it is the initial set for the Deep Sex series. Jared and I have extended the idea of On The Couch to our whole house - and our intimate lives as well. We enjoy sex as a loving recreation - sometimes with some of the most beautiful men (and cool dudes too) in the gay community.

This series will be a journal of our sexual exploration with one another and the men who join us for the fulfillment of mutual sexual fantasies. We have already shot quite a bit of action -- and of course, cum. That is the point. What is different about this experience? In our shoots, the guys participate in putting the shoot together with guys who want to be together. Everyone gets to suggest a sexual fantasy they want to see realized and everyone gets the camera from time to time to record it.

We want to bring you with us as deeply as possible into our erotic imaginations. This series will be expressed here first, then in books and on film. You get to participate. If you have a fantasy you would like to have us realize, sent us a description of what you would like to see in as much detail as you can. For example -- "I'd like to see X blow Y" wouldn't give us much to work with. But if you want to see a man explore another man's whole genital region with his tongue and on and on . . . You get the idea.

We will reward the most intriguing ideas with pictures. If we get a script that we shoot -- it's author will be given an original print with our thanks. So put on your thinking caps, get your dick in your hand, and tell us what you want to see us put together for you. Send to info@tombianchi.com Just remember that we have to be able to shoot in our house and around our pool. So the two parachutists in mid air thing won’t work. Well -- maybe the cords from the parachute . . .

Give us the hottest ideas you have. Thanks. 

ON THE COUCH . New book and new films are just out.

On The Couch Volume 2. The new volume sold out it's first edition in two weeks and went into a second printing a few weeks ago. We have signed copies. $45 delivers one to you.  If you want one, send us a note to info@tombianchi.com and we'll arrange to get one to you.

THE FILMS ARE DONE! TLA is just releasing On The Couch Vol. 1 and 2 on a two DVD set. You have never seen sex like this. I never wanted to do film unless it could be as beautifully shot as my still work. Fortunately, the editors of the many hours of documentary footage covering 11 of my shoots with 16 men got everything right. The guys are gorgeous, real, funny, bright and UNINHIBITED -- and that means X rated. As I told you, we want you to come deeply into our erotic imaginations to experience sexual gratifications in more beautiful and multi-dimensional ways with us. 

Pride Publishing has begun publishing two card lines of my work -- the On The Couch series and the Classic Images. You should be able to find these in bookstores and novelty shops through out the United States and Europe. If you don't find them -- ask (or demand nicely) the shop owner if they could get some. Or send a note to info@tombianchi.com to ask us for help in finding a source near you.